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Call Center Workers Left Behind in New NAFTA Deal

October 4, 2018

The Trump Administration reached a deal with Mexico and Canada on an updated NAFTA agreement on Sunday night.

Unfortunately, nothing is included in the deal to advance the provisions of CWA's call center bill, despite CWA President Chris Shelton asking the Administration multiple times to take action to stop the outsourcing and offshoring of call center jobs.

While the new agreement contains improvements in certain areas, significant changes are still needed to make this a good deal that benefits workers and stops the race to the bottom. The labor rights standards are improved, but the process to enforce those labor rights uses the same failed process from the past; the harmful ISDS, the private justice system for multinational corporations, is narrowed but still included in the deal; environmental issues including climate change are not addressed; and the agreement gives pharmaceutical companies more protection against lower-cost generic drugs than either the current NAFTA or the failed TPP.

President Shelton vowed to continue to work with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and members of Congress to address these concerns and ensure that the final agreement puts working people first.